Egg-turning device for incubators.



A'. H. NIELSEN.' EGG TURNING DEVICE FOR INGUBTRS. n A APPLIUATIION FILEDFEB.20, 1914. l; n

MMM,

ALFRED H. NELSE, F MINNEAEOLIS, MINNESOTA.

EGG-TURNING DE'l/'IC EUR INCUBATORS.

,temen Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Ang. 11, i911.

Application filed February 20, Eil-4. Serial No. 819,269.

.Zh all w kom, 'it may, concern.

Be it lniown that l, ALFRED ll. Ninnsnn, a'citizen of the United States,residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State ofMinnesota, have invented certain new and' useful Improvements tinEgg-Turning Devices for Incubatore; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomalte and use the same.

My invention has for its object to provide an extremely simple andhighly etti cient device for turning or rollingeggs held on the trays ofineubators, or the' like, and

l to such ends,v generally stated, the invention consists oi the noveldevices and combina-- tions of devices hereinafter described and deinedin the claim.

ln the accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention, likecharacters indi! cate like parts throughout `the several views.

Referring to the drawings: Figure l is a view chiefly' in plan but withsome partsin horizontal. section showing` an incubator with my improvedegg turning device applied therein; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of theparts shown in Fig. 1, some parts beingv broken away; Fig. 3 is atransverse vertical section taken on the line :v3 m3 on Fig. l; Fig. 4is a fragmentary view taken in section on the same line as vFig. 3, butshowing the parts on a larger scale. and with the eggs and egg turner4removed from the egg tray; and Figs. 5 and G are vertical sectionstaken on the line m5 we on Fig. l, illustrating the manner in which theeggs are rolled by movements of the egg turner.

They numeral 1 indicates the body of an inculiator ofstandard orordinary construe tion. the same, as shown, having' a front door 2hinged at its lower edge, and when opened, permitting the insertion orremoval of the egg tray. The eggtray comprises a mar- `final frame 3 andwire netting l in the usual arrangement, the sides of the said frame lbeing slidably mounted on the inwardly projecting 'flanges or cleats 5of supporting rails G, which latter are secured to the inner surfaces ofthe side walls olf the incubator'. w

The egg turning device is in the forni of l ifeellular bbttomless rack7, the side bars 8 vof which extend. considerably below the lower edgeoithe eid bars 9 ot all ot the other bars of said rack, so that they `areadapted to rest upon the upper edges oit' the rails 6 and support thelower edges oi' the end bars 9 and the other bars ol the said rackconsiderably above the surface oi' the tray screen.

ln the construction illustrated., the turning rack is provided with acell for each egg, but this is not necessary, and in vsome instances,would not be desirable. The transverse bars l() oi the rack 7 should bespaced apart only vtar enough to contain one layer P rs between them,but the longitudinal diate bars 1l or part thereof, might be dispensedwith. 'The length of the rack,A

that is the dimensions thereof', from near to front of the incubator,should be considerably less than the corresponding internal dimensionci' the incubator, so that by forward and rearward movements of therack, the eggs may be caused to roll and make approninnxtely a .one-haltrotation. For etiample, Fig. i shows the rack pushed in and the pointsmarked (l, on the eggs, upward. while Fig. G shows the rack movedoutward or forward, and the points a, on the eggs turned downward intocontact with the screen ot the supporting tray. The hot air from theincubator, as is well known, passes upward through the screen of thetray into Contact with and around the eggs. y

lt the customary practice, in the prooot' incubation, to turn the eggsover once or twice each day. When this is done .in the usual way byhand, the egg tray must first be removed from the incubator and then theeggs rolled around by hand, or turned over by hand utter quite a largenumber of the have first beenremoved from the tray. in thus turning theeggs by hand. it is never certain just how much the eggs are turner"land a great vmany thereof, will be rolled so far that the same sideswill again be turned downward. l, By the use of my improved egg turning`raclnlall of the eggs are given like rotations and maybe accuratelyturned over, simply by iiyioving the rackjto a backward or inwardposition at one time, and the next time moving the saine outward andleaving` it in that position.v The turning rack, so,- called, mayaA bemade ot any suitable mateL rial, but will preterably be made from lightstrips of wood. lith-the lower edges ot all of the bars,y of the raulunich are over the screen of the egg tray, raised above the said'lll`screen, as described, even distribution andk proper circulation of thehot air between and around the eggs is not interfered With. To make itpossible to move the egg turning rack from one position to anotherWithout opening up the incubator, itis prefer ably provided with anextendedfoperating rod l2 that projects ,through an opening either inthe door -or in the Wall of the inoubator,` or egg containing casing.

vThe egg turning device described also be used in Connection withstorage receptacles or casings in which eggs arekept while they arebeing accumulated for hatching purposes, and at such times, they should4be turned over daily.

Obviously, the egg 'turning rack 'may be constructed at very small costand is vnot 4only labor saving, butmakes objectionable ing the otherbars oi! said rack above said tray, and capable of shifting movementsWithin said easing, to roll the eggs.

In testimony whereof I aliix iny signature in presence oli-tivowitnesscs-- 4 ALFRED H. N IELSEN.

Witnesses:

HARRY D.` KILGORE, F. D. MERQHANT.

